Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 11 July 2018
Ascend Money transacts $5 billion in 2017
Ascend Money, Southeast Asia’s leading fintech firm, transacted a total payment volume of USD 5 billion across Southeast Asia in 2017, delivering 400% year-on-year growth compared to 2016. Ascend Money, which operates the consumer-facing TrueMoney brand across six SEA countries, served 21.1 million customers in 2017.
Thailand was the biggest contributor to Ascend Money’s payment volume, accounting for almost 50% of the overall figure. Other markets also saw significant growth, 460% in payment volumes. Within Cambodia, Ascend Money transacted a sum worth ten per cent of the country’s GDP.
Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, Ascend Money President said, “In Thailand we operate a digital wallet platform under the brand of “TrueMoney Wallet”, offering many services, ranging from mobile top-up, digital content, P2P to retail payments. Our active users’ base has grown by four times in the last 12 months and we are by far the market leader in the wallet industry in Thailand.”
Fineqia buys stake in blockchain insurance company
Fineqia International is pleased to announce it is taking an equity allocation in Black Insurance (“Black”), a digital insurance startup on the blockchain.
Black intends to become a licensed insuer and enable the underwriting of new insurance policies via insurance syndicates akin to the Lloyd’s market. Insurance brokers and agents will be able to create bespoke insurance schemes faster and cheaper using the Black platform.
Black will price the risk of specific syndicates and sell fractional ownership in such pools in the form of tokens representing the unit value of each syndicate’s expected financial return. This process makes participation in insurance syndicates more efficient and transparent via time-stamped and traceable transaction records recorded on the blockchain.
Black is gearing toward an ICO later this year, to sell utility tokens that will be used for transacting on its platform, once it is publicly available.
The strategic investment allows Fineqia to strengthen its existing pipeline of asset-backed debt securities that will be offered to investors on its platform.
“We are excited to back Black, which allows for a wide variety of investors to participate in a high quality insurance finance product,” said Fineqia’s CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar also who helped found Black.
“Black represents everything we want from issuers on our platform: innovation, disruption and ambition,” said Rangar. “We believe that insurance is one sector ripe for blockchain disruption and Black Insurance has the right team experience to make this happen.”
TransferWise opens in Hong Kong
Leading London-based fintech company TransferWise announced the official launch of its international money transfer platform in Hong Kong, giving it a major foothold in Asia as part of the company’s ongoing international expansion.
TransferWise co-founder and CEO Mr Kristo Käärmann said the launch came as a timely move amid Hong Kong’s commitment to boost fintech development. “We’re excited to launch our service in Hong Kong and introduce a product that is cheaper, faster, and fairer for people and businesses here. The Hong Kong dollar has long been a highly requested currency at TransferWise, so we’re happy to be able to open this to everyone,” he said.
TransferWise operates on the concept of matching up transfers with other people on the digital platform. It uses the mid-market rate, which is only a fraction of the rates used by traditional currency transfer operators. After a successful pilot period, TransferWise has already been able to drop prices for customers transferring money from Hong Kong by more than 20 per cent, Mr Käärmann said.
“Over 3 million people across the world use TransferWise as a fair and easy way to manage their money across borders. Hong Kong represents a key market for TransferWise. Over 4 per cent of Hong Kong’s population are foreigners, and many Hongkongers are living in other parts of the world. Hong Kong also has a long, rich history as a world leading economy and home of international commerce,” he added.
Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang said, “I’m excited to see TransferWise making its foothold in Hong Kong. This is a big step not only for the company but also for Hong Kong as we are committed to becoming a leading fintech city in the world. TransferWise’s decision to set up in our city is a win-win for both.”
